GOVERNMENT officials, answering directly to Najib Razak, pressured finance ministry officers into bypassing standard operating procedures and expediting government guarantees for RM4 billion in loans to SRC International, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur heard today.

Former finance ministry official Maliami Hamad told the court he had to prepare the two government guarantees in 2011 and 2012 quicker than he normally would because he was told they had received the “special attention” of Najib.

On the 2011 guarantee, Maliami told the court: “The directive on the need to expedite the cabinet meeting memorandum not only came from SRC International but also from the Treasury secretary-general, that is Wan Abdul Aziz (Wan Abdullah), who as far as I knew, received his instructions from the prime minister, that is Najib.”

The 65-year-old Maliami – who was the ministry’s former loans management, financial markets and actuary division secretary – told the court that a subordinate once queried why the government guarantees needed to be expedited so urgently.

“Afidah Azwa said she did not have the time she needed to verify the information supplied to her by SRC officials, before entering it into a memorandum that would be tabled at a cabinet meeting for approval.

“I told Afidah Azwa that the directive from the Treasury secretary-general was to expedite the matter because SRC had received the special attention of the prime minister, that is Najib himself and that the need for the SRC funds was urgent.”

Maliami said he was pressured for the first RM2 billion loan to SRC International on August 12, 2011, when SRC officials met him and urged him to speed up the process to obtain the government guarantee.

He said normally, the draft for any cabinet meeting memorandum would be forwarded to the second finance minister for his consideration and signature of approval.

“However, for this matter, the directive from the Treasury secretary-general to me was that the memorandum be sent for the consideration and signature of approval by Nor Mohamed Yakcop because he was the minister that would table the document at the cabinet meeting.

“Regarding the preparation of this memorandum, I was pressured to prepare it as soon as possible for it to be tabled at a cabinet meeting on August 17, 2011. Time was short,” he said.

Maliami added that he received additional pressure from Najib’s principal private secretary, the late Azlin Alias.

“I believe the directive from Azlin Alias came directly from the prime minister.

“The instruction was passed to me verbally, which was to ensure that the memorandum was prepared as soon as possible to obtain cabinet approval the same week.”

The government guarantee was approved on August 26, 2011, and the first loan was disbursed from Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) to SRC International on August 29, 2011.

The witness said he was approached in January 27, 2012, by the SRC officials, led again by CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil.

The officials again asked him to expedite a government guarantee for a second loan of RM2 billion.

“The normal MOF (Ministry of Finance) procedure for any memorandum was for it to be forwarded to the second finance minister for his consideration and signature.”

“However, in this case, it was forwarded directly to the prime minister, who was also the finance minister, for his consideration and signature.”

Maliami said the second memorandum was tabled on February 8, 2012.

However, the second loan was disbursed before the second government guarantee was prepared and KWAP then relied on a letter of comfort from the finance ministry that the guarantee was forthcoming and that the loan could be approved.

The second loan of RM2 billion to SRC International was disbursed on March 28, 2012.

Najib’s charges are linked to RM4 billion in loans issued to SRC International in 2011 and 2012, for which he is accused of receiving RM42 million in his personal accounts in 2014 and 2015.

He faces three counts of criminal breach of trust, three counts of money-laundering and one count of abuse of power.

Najib, 66, is represented by a dozen lawyers led by Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

Attorney-General Tommy Thomas is leading the prosecution, while justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali is the presiding judge.